Warriors of the Forest:A New Beginning
by aca.pitch.slapped
Summary: Warriors book, still in progress! Review and give tips!
1. Chapter 1

_Eclipsekit and Starkit came barreling_ out of the Shadowclan Nursery with Tawnykit and Frostkit racing at their paws. "Got you!" Tawnykit screeched happily as he tackled Eclipsekit. The two energetic kits went tumbling into Runningkit who was sleepily padding out of the nursery.

"Hey, what was that for?" Runningkit exclaimed

"Nothing," Starkit replied "Just playing", then they ran off giggling. Starkit ran up to Tawnykit and jumped over him, sending the two tiny kits into a roll, knocking over Eclipsekit, while Frostkit had to keep jumping up over them to keep from keep from getting squished by the mass of kits.

The four cats, lost in the thrill of the play fight, were pawing and batting at each other with their claws sheathed. Eclipsekit let out an angry mew and kicked at Starkit's stomach. Moonkit meowed helplessly as the cats rolled and fought running into the nursery, tumbling into Sparrowkit, and then stopping abruptly to see the startled expression and raised hackles on Sparrowkit. He angrily hissed at the three cats who had knocked him off his paws.

Darkfern growled. "Do you mind? Honeyflower, tell your kits to play outside rather than in my nest."

Honeyflower was Eclipsekit's mother, a beautiful, golden tabby queen. Honeyflower never was mad at her kits. However, that didn't mean she couldn't be forceful.

"Oh, Darkfern. They are only playing. Besides, I think they would much rather play outside, anyway."

The tabby queen then pushed the rambunctious kits out of the nursery.

"We were just play fighting," Eclispekit mewed. She looked around as Tawnykit and Starkit nodded in agreement.

"I want to back into the nursery, with you," chirped Moonkit. Honeyflower's eyes softened.

"I am sure you do, but I bet your siblings want to play with you more. Why don't you play with them today," Honeyflower purred back at Moonkit.

Moonkit looked down at her paws. "Well, okay."

Sparrowkit barrelled into Starkit and they went rolling away, while Tawnykit and Eclipsekit pounced onto Moonkit. The tackle didn't last long, though. Tawnykit was too small to keep Moonkit down, and Eclipsekit soon got bored of Moonkit's struggle.

"You guys are mouse brains," Moonkit said in a softer voice after catching her breath.

"I heard that!" Eclipsekit yowled then pounced tackling her and dragging her into the fight. In the midst of the fight, they rolled into Toadleap. The kits cowered in fear, knowing Toadleap's reputation of having a temper as short as a mouse tail. He held a calm expression, but each and everyone of the six tiny kits could see the burning fury in his eyes.

"What are you doing?" he hissed, "You are not apprentices, there is no need to be fighting."

Moonkit stammered, "W-we were only-"

Tawnykit interrupted "We were only playing, leave us alone." Tawnykit's head was held high only testing if he could resist Toadleap's fury.

Toadleap growled deeply, looked at the kits, and padded off to Honeyflower, most likely to explain to her what a nuisance the five kits were. Moonkit flicked her ears in gratitude, knowing she would have gotten her ears clawed off, along with her siblings, if it weren't for Tawnykit.

After that dramatic moment, Sparrowkit, Runningkit, Tawnykit, and Starkit continued to play fight. Eclipsekit and Moonkit for they had seen Maplepaw and ran up to him. Maplepaw was recently made an apprentice in ShadowClan. The mottled brown-ginger tabby with black paws noticed the two's desperate scrabbling and gazed at squirrel he was carrying was instantly tossed on the fresh kill pile as a flash of amusement streaked across his dark green eyes. "Hello," he meowed.

"Hi!" Eclipsekit said excitedly not even knowing words had just spilled out of her mouth. "Hi, Maplepaw," Moonkit said shyly and scampered back into the nursery, pelt hot. Eclipsekit had always admired Maplepaw. He got the privilege of being an apprentice while she and the other kits of the nursery were still dreaming of getting their apprentice names. However, Eclipsekit's mother had told them to be patient because it was only a half-moon until they were named apprentices. Eclipsepaw's denmates and she would be able to go to Gatherings and then they were closer to becoming warriors. Warriors! Just the thought of it made Eclipsekit's spine shudder.

"I see that you were play fighting with the other kits."

"Y-yeah," she mewed.

Maplepaw purred. "Well," Maplepaw mewed "Then maybe I can join," and right as he said as he pounced on Eclipsekit being careful not to squish her.

"St-Stop i-it tickles. help!,"She yowled, laughing uncontrollably between tickles.

The other kits heard her and ran to her rescue. Soon it was a pile of cats tickling and bating at each other. Frostkit wildly battered at the mass of kits and one apprentice. "Ow! Ow! Stop it Frostkit!" Eclipsekit wildly screamed as she whipped around kicking both Starkit and Frostkit in the jaw, their eyes burning with happiness and mewling excitedly. Tawnykit and Starkit both latched onto Frostkit and Eclipsekit's legs, only pulling them deeper into the play-fight. Eclipsekit's ears were overflowing with the sound of _mrrow_ s of joy and laughing yowls.

"Alright, alright. I need to get back to training now," Maplepaw said as he glanced back at his mentor, Sprucetail, who was glaring at him with his light green eyes. "Maybe we all could get some fresh kill later." Eclipsekit looked at him with a bit of disappointment in her eyes, "Oh." she said. "Ok then." Maplepaw left the nursery with his mentor. Eclipsekit bounded off to join the other kits in playing with a ball of moss. However, her eyes grew weary as the sun set behind the glorious pine trees. A several beams poking through each branches needles. Eclipsekit dragged her heavy paws across the clearing to the nursery, where Honeyflower was preparing for sleep. Honeyflower beckoned her sleepy kits to her nest. Eclipsekit gladly padded into her mother's nest and the rest of the litter soon followed.

During her sleep, Eclipsekit found herself in the forest. Deep in the forest. She was not allowed out of camp, so why did this place feel so familiar? She heard a faint wailing of pain. Eclipsepaw ran towards the sound, going as fast as her tiny paws could carry her. As she ran in deeper woods, the light around her faded. She ran even further into the forest, the wailing not being any closer. The world around her was dark there was no moon to light her path, nor stars to guide her. She couldn't help feeling dreadfully lost.

 _What is this place?_ Eclipsekit thought, not realizing she had yowled at the top of her tiny lungs. Her scream were soon accompanied by an eerie echo and the wailing. Eclipsekit stopped, dead in her tracks, listening to the howls of pain. Eclipsepaw flattened her ears. It sounded terribly familiar. It seems now that there was more than one cat screeching in terror and agony. It sounded like her littermates, Frostkit, Moonkit, Tawnykit, and Starkit! They all seemed in terrible pain. She had made no mistake. If there is one thing she knew, it was their voices.

Her littermates meant everything to her. She shared a closer bond with those kits than the medicine cats were connected with StarClan. Were they in trouble? Eclipsekit did not know. She was drowning in uncertainty. A crack formed in the ground. The world around her was sucked in. She was suddenly back in the camp. The rising sun peaked through the trees. Spreading light throughout the camp.

. The only thing that was noticeable in the ShadowClan camp was a pool of blood. The sticky, scarlet liquid seemed to be mixing in with other cat's blood. Eclipsekit's ears pricked up. The wailing had stopped. It was dead silent. Even when she yowled at the top of her tiny lungs she could not hear her own voice. A faint meow not of her own seemed to be heard. _When the star falls, the frost melts, the spots fall off the pelt, and when the dove has left its nest, the moon will shine brighter and the reign of the eclipse begins._

The faint echoing of the voice continued on for several heartbeats, and then all was silent. The trees and starless sky vanished from Eclipsekit the second she blinked her eyes. There was nothing but black. Absolutely nothing but black.

Eclipsekit's dream ended and she awoke with a jerk. She looked around and saw that the kits and her were still in the nursery. It was moonhigh now. The kits were still asleep and Starkit had put his tail over Eclipsekit's muzzle. She furiously shook it off and worriedly looked at Frostkit, Moonkit, Starkit, and Tawnykit, who were sleeping soundly on the either side of her. She gazed at Frostkit with a look of sadness. She was the one who enjoyed her life the most and was one of the three she-kits in the nursery. A pang of misery stabbed her like a claw. She was probably going to lose her life earlier than she would expect. StarClan had sent her a dream about it.


	2. Chapter 2

_Starkit had bounded over to the fresh kill pile to get something good out of the pile_. He knew that just about every kit in the nursery would come sprinting to get the juiciest piece of fresh kill. Particularly, Eclipsekit didn't seem as hungry as she usually was. Starkit noticed that she walked over and clawed at one of the smaller pieces and started to chew it slowly. After seeing this distracted way she ate, Starkit knew something was wrong. Something was on her mind, and he was determined to find out what it was.

Starkit walked by her. Eclipsekit was eating a scrawny vole and she was only taking a few bites every dozen or so heartbeats. Now Starkit was really concerned. On a normal day she would eat her fresh kill in a couple swift bites and then go and play with Tawnykit and himself. Starkit shivered when he felt the warm embrace of the blazing sun ripple down his spine.

"Are you feeling alright?" he questioned, his lake-blue eyes filled with deep concern for his sister.

"Y-yeah. I'm alright" Eclipsekit meowed back, apparently the small cat was recovering from a shock that she had earlier encountered. Did she hear a fox at night? Starkit wasn't sure. "Are you positive? Because you don't seem to be as lively as you normally are." mewed Starkit. "Maybe you should see Mossfur. She has some herbs if you have a headache." Eclipsekit showed a pang of sadness in her eyes when she looked at him. "I'm fine. I just had a rough night," she hissed.

Starkit mewed "Oh, what happened? You seem shook."

"I don't want to talk about it," Eclipsekit mewed under her breath, so faint that Starkit almost didn't hear her mew at all. If Eclipsekit was hesitant to explain her reason behind.

Tawnykit and Frostkit completely froze on the crow they were brawling over and stood there looking at Eclipsekit, her eyes full of burning, everlasting fury. Starkit sniffed in dismay of his failure to get Eclipsekit to confess her problems."You are never like this!" Starkit desperately meowed. He stood there for a moment wondering what was wrong with his sister. They were so close, and now they were quarrelling.

"Who died and made you Clan leader!"

Eclipsekit's words felt like a warrior ripped out his heart and clawed it up like a moss ball.

"Fine, but if anything is bothering you and if StarClan manages to convince you to tell someone about your problems," Starkit hissed, he paused for a heartbeat, flattening his ears. "You have me." Then he picked up his squirrel and padded next to Tawnykit, Frostkit, and Runningkit.

"Hey, Starstar," Runningkit snickered, "Glad you joined us."

Frostkit giggled and Tawnykit burst out laughing.

"Let's hope nobody makes you deputy!" jeered Tawnykit.

"Or leader, for that matter!" added Frostkit.

The three kits fell to the ground laughing. Runningkit was choking on his own laughter. Starkit eyes glittered with annoyance as he cuffed Runningkit and over the ear.

"All cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here beneath the Meeting Branch for a clan meeting," Starkit turned his head to see Dovefeather, and Starkit gathered his littermates to hide away so they could hear what was to be said.

From up on her spot on Highbranch Dovefeather said "Calm down everyone calm down. I have some news to announce" she cleared her throat "Sootstar has lost his last life and joined the ranks of StarClan."

"Why? He was such a _great leader!_ He would have led ShadowClan to become the most highly respected Clan in the forest!" a cat shouted out from the crowd. It was Rabbitclaw, a light brown tabby cat. His desperate wails of grief for their leader lead to a whole chorus of cries and shouts.

"Quiet down!" Roseleaf yowled above the noise of the crowd "Let Dovefeather speak you mouse brained furballs! Now is not the time to be grieving for Sootstar! _This is a meeting!_ " Eventually the noise subsided and Dovefeather could talk again.

"Thank you, Honeyflower," she said "Well, as I was saying Sootstar was killed by a collapsed bader set while on sunhigh patrol. We will hold vigil for him t-"

Cries and outbursts from the crowd started up and this time, they would not be quieted. Amidst all the chaos, Starkit and his littermates flattened their ears and crawled back to the nursery to dodge the chaos where they found Sparrowkit and Runningkit eagerly awaiting their return to drown them in their questions. Starkit, Tawnykit, and Eclipsekit filled them in, while Frostkit and Moonkit went to sleep. As Starkit padded to the nest with his other littermates, he thought about what would happen to the Clan now that Sootstar was dead.

Starkit opened his jaw as wide as it would go to lazily yawn when he woke up from his night's sleep. He took caution of his littermates sleeping around him and carefully stepped over them. Starkit padded outside to get a few breaths of some fresh air, the smell of ShadowClan flooded in his nose. Other Clans, mainly ThunderClan offended ShadowClan saying their scent is like a piece of fox dung, and Starkit cringed his nose in scorn when he witnessed something.

Dovefeather, the new clan leader, was in a dark corner of the camp talking in secret with none other than Scarface. Starkit felt sorry for Runningkit and Sparrowkit because Scarface was their father and everyone knew he was a lying piece of fox dung. Runningkit and Sparrowkit would have to try to get out from under his shadow their entire lives. Starkit ran back inside the nursery in fear that if they saw him that they'd think he was spying on them, and the last thing he wanted was Scarface thinking he had overheard something secret.

When he got inside he saw Lightningpaw whispering something to Mossfur as they passed by as he heard after hearing what Lightningpaw had told her started to run over to Dovefeather and Scarface. Starkit was worried at this but then remembered he must not be seen, so he darted back into the nursery.

Starkit had barely closed his eyes when he heard Darkfern yowl, "My kits! They are coming!"

Mossfur immediately rushed into the nursery with most of her herbs in hand. Darkfern was screaming in agony as spasms came and went.

"Relax, don't waste your energy on the spasms," Mossfur told Darkfern.

All of ShadowClan was up and outside of the nursery. Honeyflower shooed Starkit and his littermates out of the nursery.

It seemed like a moon before anyone spoke. Mossfur poke her head out and asked Toadleap to step inside. Soon after Starkit padded into the nursery to see Darkfern and Toadleap gazing warmly at their new kits. One was a gray tabby she-kit with dark brown flecks and the other was a beautiful long-furred brown she-kit with a complicated pattern of black stripes and spots along her coat.

"We'll call this one Tulipkit," Darkfern gestured to the gray tabby she-kit, then to the long-furred brown tabby. "And this one Applekit."

Starkit decided that he liked Applekit. The gray queen noticed that Starkit was watching. Starkit, suddenly feeling self-conscious, said, "They're beautiful, Darkfern, especially Applekit." She smiled and gazed at her mate in satisfaction.

"How about you, Toadleap? Do you like your new kits?"

"Why shouldn't I? They are the most beautiful kits in ShadowClan. You did well, my love. Thank you."


	3. Chapter 3

_Tawnykit stretched his stubby legs and started to groom himself, noticing that Starkit was already up and energetic._ "Hey Starkit, race you to the fresh kill pile!"

"Oh, you're on," he replied confidently. The two kits sprinted as fast as their tiny paws could carry them to the mound of freshly killed prey the hunting patrol had brought back, When Tawnykit got there he was barreled over by Starkit and the two went rolling the rest of the way to the fresh kill pile.

"Well, I guess it was a tie," Tawnykit mewed. The two chose a mockingbird and padded over to the Nursery wall to eat it there. In between bites, Tawnykit asked " Hey Starkit, why were you up so early?"

Starkit looked at him, "Well, I woke up and didn't know what to do so I walked outside for a breath of air and what I saw scared every scrap of fur off my pelt," he meowed. Ignoring Tawnykit's flash of interest burning in his eyes, Starkit dug his face into the mockingbird again. He came back out with an eager chewing face and scraps of food entwined in his whiskers. Tawnykit shook his head for his brother and gave a _mrrow_ of laughter. "You eat just as sloppily as those ThunderClan warriors!" Tawnykit purred.

"No I don't!" Starkit hissed and tackled him. Starkit was the biggest and burliest of the litter while Tawnykit was the runt, so Tawnykit battered his paws at Starkit in the play fight hoping that his older brother wouldn't squash him. Once Starkit had calmed down and his playful flare had died out the padded over to the mockingbird to begin eating.

"What'd you see?"

Starkit froze and closed his eyes to explain a vivid image of what he saw. "I saw Dovefeather… well I saw her talking to Scarface -" he paused as Tawnykit overlapped him with opinion.

"Scarface, that dirty, lying, piece of fox dung. What is _he_ up to?," Tawnykit hissed.

"I don't know, but what I do know is that Scarface was talking to her in secret and it can't be about anything good." Starkit finished. He raised his hackles and even Tawnykit could feel his own fur standing on end.

"But, Dovefeather, knows that. We don't have anything to worry about," responded Tawnykit.

Starkit gave him a hard look. Tawnykit sighed and began his proposal, "Ok, we'll have to explore that later, but right now we should tell the others," Tawnykit said. He took a few more swift bites of the mockingbird and sprinted off to get the others. Looking irritated for Tawnykit to leave him behind like that, Starkit ate the remains as fast as possible and raced up. He was at Tawnykit's heels wanting to be there to help explain and see the other kit's reactions.

After Tawnykit explained what Starkit had seen the night before to the rest of the kits, Frostkit strutted up to the two kits and crouched down, her eyes blazing with concern, "Well," she began, "We know now that Scarface is up to no good, even Applekit can see that." Frostkit turned around to twitch her tail at one of the other kits in the nursery. "Have you seen them? They're beautiful."

Tawnykit looked at Starkit to see him cover his face with one of his paws. Every cat in the forest could see Starkit liked the long-furred, dark brown she-cat. Frostkit turned around again to finish."We can't let _anyone_ find out we know what they are up to. If we so much as tell StarClan know what we do then we'll be crow food for sure," Frostkit flattened her ears angrily.

"Agreed," Tawnykit meowed back, " But I want to know what exactly they were discussing," he shot a glance at Scarface who was sharing tongues with Poisonfang.

After telling them Tawnykit thought about what Starkit had seen, while settling down for a nap, and began to wonder about what Scarface and Dovefeather were talking about. Then he thought to himself _maybe it was about Sootstar's death. Maybe he didn't get killed by a collapsed badger set, maybe Scarface betrayed him cover it up._ But, there was a good possibility that other reasons could also be true.

Tawnykit found he couldn't sleep and waited in silence, with only his thoughts, until the other kits woke up. Finally, they did and he shared his thought about Sootstar and his demise with them. "I think you're right." replied Moonkit, "Maybe, we should ask him what really happened."

Frostkit replied, "Sure... that would be a cheerful visit, marching into his den. Hi Scarface, tell us, _did_ you kill Sootstar so you could be leader? Or is what you say true."

"Besides, his plan didn't work because now Dovefeather is clan leader," Frostkit pointed out, "I think our main priority now is to continue on with our lives."

" I agree," Tawnykit stated.

"Ok, I agree," Eclipsekit said.

" I proposed it, so I agree ," said Frostkit, giggling

" Same," announced Starkit

Tawnykit said he would and Moonkit was the only one left. "Okay, fine but it is going to take really long time at this rate," Moonkit finally relented.

"Deal," Tawnykit stated and with that the "meeting" was at a close. Just then Dovestar walked into the camp with her head held high but humble. As she padded into the camp she greeted cats and seemed to blush when cats called her by her new name.

Dovestar jumped onto the Clan Rock and announced, "Warriors of Shadowclan, it is an absolute honor to lead such a strong and capable Clan!" Dovestar glanced around as Tawnykit rolled his eyes. He glanced around to see Scarface sitting angrily in the background. "It is my duty as the new leader to bestow apprentice names on several patient kits who've clawed their fur off waiting to become move up a rank in our Clan. Now, don't worry I haven't forgot about my other duty as clan leader I will name the new deputy at moonhigh. After the naming of Sparrowkit and Runningkit, Tawnykit."

This really got the clan's attention for every cat was muttering about who would the deputy be, asking around to see if the kits named were old enough to become apprentices, wondering who the mentors would be, and whether or not the mentors attitudes would match or oppose their new apprentices?

After a while Dovefeather got them to calm down. "It may seem a bit early for our kits to become apprentices but ThunderClan numbers are increasing like never before and they are bound to attack sooner or later, so it is vital that we increase our number of trained and able cats as fast as we can," Dovefeather concluded. She then sighed and muttered some inaudible words while padding into her new den.

Tawnykit thought to himself , _This was a little odd. Tawnykit and the others were close to six moons, but were not yet._ Suddenly, Tawnykit had his doubts about Dovefeather's leadership skills. He pulled his littermates aside, "Everyone's thinking what I'm thinking right?"

"Right," they chorused back.

"Okay, I'm just thinking out loud here but did anyone see Scarface during the clan meeting?" Asked Moonkit.

"Yes, I did. He was in the back and very upset that Dovefeather was clan leader and not him."

"No. Scarface was in the front next to Toadleap. Did you notice that Dovefeather was glancing down at them every few seconds?"

"No, I didn't. Do you think that maybe Dovefeather asked the two for help? They are one of the oldest Senior Warriors."

Moonkit nodded her head. After his conclusion, Tawnykit and the others all came to a silent agreement. Frostkit was unsure at first, but soon she too agreed. Somehow Tawnykit knew that his life, and the four other cats', would be changed forever. And,judging by the others' uneasiness, Tawnykit knew that the others felt this way as well.

~.~.~.~

"Every Cat who is old enough to catch their own prey meet under this branch for a clan meeting," Dovefeather exclaimed while bounding up onto the top of the branch. Slowly everyone in the clan padded out and sat below the branch leaving a semicircle so the ceremony had space to be performed. Dovefeather started off with Runningkit and Sparrowkit, performing the ceremony and assigning them to their mentors. Runningpaw's mentor was Thornheart and Sparrowpaw's mentor was Foxstripe. They both were exhilarated at becoming apprentices. They did not realize that the others were under age, unlike them.

Tawnykit couldn't help noticing that both kits seemed to get mentors that were very close in personality to them. If that was how he was choosing mentors he would probably end up with the smallest, most sharp tongued cat in the clan. _Oh, great,_ Tawnykit thought, _at this rate I am probably going to get Toadleap_.

One after the other, Starkit, Frostkit, Moonkit, and Eclipsekit went up and got their mentors and became Starpaw, Frostpaw, Moonpaw, and Eclipsepaw . Tawnykit's fears only increased because all of the other kit's mentors were almost identical to their personalities. When Dovefeather called his name, he couldn't help from worrying about whether he would be assigned Toadleap for his mentor or not.

"Tawnykit, you have proved it's time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Tawnypaw. Your mentor will be Scarface. I hope he passes down his fighting skills and quick thinking to you," Dovefeather finished. But, Tawnypaw barely heard his last few words. He got Scarface, _Scarface!_ Everyone knew he was sneaky, cunning, and ruthless. Is that really what everyone saw that Tawnypaw could be, a cold-blooded, untrustworthy cat? He started to feel his ears heat up and his vision blurred over a bit, until he realized that this was how Dovefeather saw him. On the other paw, if Moonpaw's theory was correct, and Scarface and Toadleap were controlling Dovefeather, Scarface was the one who thought he could become like him.

His ears seemed to just started working in time to hear Dovefeather finish up his ceremony, "- and I expect you to pass on all you know to Tawnypaw." As he padded over to touch noses with Scarface, he saw a glint in his eyes and knew this was no mere accident, not a coincident. Scarface and Toadleap saw something in him that they didn't in the other paws they saw a ruthlessness, and coldness this made them think they could turn Tawnypaw over to their side. They were horribly wrong.

Tawnypaw would make them regret this. He may use it against them in his and his littermates fight to keep Dovefeather safe. Even though he and his littermates hadn't talked of rebellion, he somehow knew then that they would work behind the scenes to gain Dovefeather's trust and in the end, make her realize that Scarface and Toadleap were controlling her leadership. For she might not of been leader for long, but Tawnypaw was certain no good would come from her rein because of Scarface and Toadleap.

But, Tawnypaw couldn't help but feel worried, "What if what they saw in me is real? What if I am ruthless? I know I can get a little angry sometimes and have trouble with my anger, but I'm not cruel like them." No matter what Tawnypaw told himself, a small bit of worry remained.


	4. Chapter 4

_Frostpaw woke up in the apprentice den with a sharp pain._ It felt like she was caught in a bramblebush with no one there to help here. She cried out in agony and woke the rest of the apprentices up. Her white fur standing on end "What's wrong?" they kept asking her, but she could not answer for the pain was too much for her.

"Ow, ow _ow!"_ she screeched.

"We have to bring her to Mossfur, quickly!" shrieked Eclipsepaw. She nudged Frostpaw and lifted him up by the shoulder. Frostpaw winced in pain. "Would it anger StarClan to hurry up?!" Tawnypaw hissed

The five apprentices dashed out of the nursery and stopped right before slamming into Mossfur; she was just about to see what all the commotion was all about. Her sleep-filled eyes had hints of frustration and alarm mixed together. Mossfur looked at the apprentices and gave a lazy yawn. "What is it now?" she muttered. "I don't suppose you snuck out of camp and hurt yourself. _Did you?"_

"W-w-we didn't! She j-j-just wok-ke up l-like this," stuttered, flicking her tail in Frostpaw's direction."We don't know what h-happened to her."

"I'll take a look at him, okay? Calm down." Mossfur sighed. She paused and shifted her paw around in Frostpaw's fur. She touched one spot on her white flank and examined it.

"Ow _ow!_ It hurts!" Frostpaw wailed

"Oh pipe down, you," Mossfur hissed, stroking the injured area. "It seems she was stung by a bee. And a bad one at that!"

"Do you think you can help her?!" Starpaw anxiously asked, flattening his ears in concern. The two siblings were always close; every cat in ShadowClan knew that if one of them was injured, the other was bound be upset and stay by their side until the other was better. The annoying part was both of them got hurt, a lot.

So Mossfur rolled her eyes at Starpaw and growled,"Of course I can help her it's just a bee sting, not like she got bit by an adder." Moonpaw attempted to hold in a fear scent, but failed, the instant Mossfur said adder. She had an irrational fear of adders and none of the littermates could bring up the name of that poisonous snake without Moonpaw panicking, breaking into a sweat, or nearly fainting.

"Okay, calm down," Tawnypaw said, quite aggressively, " There isn't an adder in ShadowClan. I don't know what you're so afraid of, you've never even seen an adder." Moonpaw didn't relax, but at the moment their main problem wasn't her fears. Mossfur sent the four apprentices away for her to tend to Frostpaw and disappeared into the medicine cat's den.

Moonpaw picked up some fresh kill and headed to where Frostpaw was being tended. "Thanks, Moonpaw" she said, "but this bee sting hurts so bad that it don't even feel like eating" Moonpaw, ignoring what Frostpaw said, dropped the fresh-kill beside her.

"It's too bad"

"It's too bad what?"

"It's too bad that you'll be so jealous when I come back and show you my awesome fighting moves" Moonpaw said, the light hearted-ness practically glowing from her eyes.

"Moonpaw? You're my best friend, you know that?"

"I figured"

With that Moonpaw padded out of the den leaving Frostpaw almost sad and distracted from the pain. But that all faded away when Mossfur put one of her herbs on the bee-sting. Frostpaw screeched with pain. Hearing Frostpaw's scream, Embersong padded in to find Mossfur lecturing Frostpaw not to scream like that. "You'll wake up the entire forest if you scream like that! And quite possibly break my ears."

"Mossfur, what is going on here? Why is my apprentice here?"

"I woke up with a bee sting, Embersong. I wanted very much to train today, but that's ruined"

Prided by her apprentice's wanting to train with her, she answered, "Get better quickly and we might train tomorrow" Embersong's eyes glowed with pride and happiness. This comforted Frostpaw.

With the last drop of Mossfur's healing herbs, she said, "That should do the trick. You'll be fine for now, just don't try any battle moves." Mossfur turned her attention towards Embersong, "A simple show around the borders would be enough training for today, don't you think?" Embersong nodded in agreement.

~.~.~.~

Frostpaw was having a hard time to keep up seeing that walking bothered her bee sting. Her mentor began to notice and slowed down to the apprentice's pace. As the got nearer to a hedge, Frostpaw sented a horrific smell and immediately scrunched her face up.

"This is the border with ThunderClan," said Embersong. "It is at the edge of ours and Thunderclan's territory. Don't cross it or ThunderClan will have a big fit with you them being as bossy as they are."

Frostpaw took a sniff at the ThunderClan border and spit with disgust. "Yuck! ThunderClan lives with that stench?"

"You'll get used to it once you go on border patrol regularly."

"If you say so, but I don't think I'll ever get used to that stench."

"We should get back on our lesson." Embersong purred as she brushed her tail over Frostpaw's head.

They started up again, but this time going at a slower pace, and arrived back at camp when they were getting hungry. The heartbeat the white apprentice got back to the ShadowClan camp, she raced to the fresh kill pile. Her siblings were waiting there for her; Moonpaw had saved her half of a mocking bird.

Noticing that Brokenstar had leapt up onto Highhill, Frostpaw glared at him from the corner of her eye and haughtily mewed to the other apprentices. "Look," she mewed, puffing out her chest and ducked her head to speak in private with her siblings. "A piece of maggot-filled crow food just happened to crawl out of the fresh-kill pile and leap up onto Highhill. "

Starpaw nodded his head and opened his mouth to say something else about Brokenstar, but paused when their dung-like leader let out a blood-curdling yowl."Let every cat old enough to catch their own prey gather here beneath Highhill!" ShadowClan cats began to trickle out of dens and nurseries and Darkflower paused from raking her tongue over her two kits, Applekit and Tulipkit. She gave them a nudge and guided the two playful, toddling kits with her tail as she padded up to the meeting where Brokenstar stood. His muscles rippling his ragged fur fluffing up in pride and settling down under the wind.

"Loyal, brave, strong cats of ShadowClan, I have called this meeting to discuss two important announcements," Brokenstar glanced around the ShadowClan camp, the ferns bending in the breeze and the soft caress of marsh grasses brushing together. Brokenstar paused at the five apprentices, Starpaw, Tawnypaw, Eclipsepaw, Moonpaw, and Frostpaw. He smiled his wicked smile as he gazed upon them. The pressure building up on her as she met the ShadowClan leader's amber stare was unbearable.

Just when Frostpaw thought that she would burst, Brokenstar looked away and began again. "One of which," he purred, "Is one of my favorite duties to perform as your leader." Pausing once again, he looked upon Tulipkit and Applekit.

"Tulipkit, from now on until you achieve your warrior name you shall be known as Tulippaw." The new apprentices went up to Brokenstar and touched noses to his. " Foxstripe is currently open for another apprentice," Brokenstar meowed. " Foxstripe, you will be mentoring Tulippaw. Pass down all of your knowledge to her with dignity and honor" Foxstripe nodded his head and touched noses with his new apprentice.

"Applekit, from now on until you reach your warrior name you shall be known as Applepaw," The new apprentice beamed with excitement. "Lilyfur is currently open for another apprentice and will mentor Applepaw. Lilyfur, pass down all of your knowledge to Applepaw with grace and respect" Lilyfur nodded and bent down to touch noses with Applepaw.

After the two new apprentices went to join their new mentors Brokenstar said, " Now I must address the more important news,"Brokentar closed his eyes and turned them to Poisonfang. "Poisonfang and Lightningpaw were on patrol this morning when Lightningpaw noticed something," Brokenstar gazed at Lightningpaw whose eyes were wide with shock. "Would you like to tell ShadowClan what you saw?" Lightningpaw stood up, his golden fur showing his fear underneath. "Y-yes," he stammered.


	5. Chapter 5

_Moonpaw stared at her fellow_ apprentice in wonder. _What did he see_? She awaited Lightningpaw's answer twitching her tail impatiently. "Today, Poisonfang and I were on patrol and I smelled WindClan, and prey," he paused and swallowed, glancing around the camp. "I followed the scent all the way to the border with WindClan and smelled the prey across the border. The scent was stale, but WindClan definitely stole some prey from us."

He stopped and looked at Dovefeather, who gave a curt nod and allowed her to step off the branch. Once he did so, yowls of outrage rang through the ShadowClan camp and seared into Moonpaw's ears. "We should attack!" The shout was from Ashpool. His long-haired, gray pelt bristled and his different colored eyes glittered with pure fury.

"They think they are weak!" Runningpaw hissed, bringing his tail over Lightningpaw's shoulder. "We should wipe their Clan out and show them!" Dovefeather lifted a paw and twitched his tail, silencing them. "No! We will not attack them. We are new ShadowClan, not the savages we once were in the forest," she meowed. "If WindClan feels like they can invade our territory and take our prey then they are _dead wrong_ ," Dovefeather hissed. "It is against the warrior code to trespass _and_ steal prey. I will mention this at the Gathering tonight. If Willowstar and her warriors are honorable enough, they will stop breaking the warrior code, but if Willowstar will not cooperate, then we will attack."

Moonpaw froze, her blood turning to ice. "The meeting is dismissed," Dovefeather mewed, "Return to your normal duties." she padded away to her den and Swanfern raced after her. All of the other cats returned to what they were doing, but Moonpaw remained numb. _Were they really going to attack WindClan?_ "Did you hear that, Moonpaw?" Moonpaw whipped her head around. Starpaw and Tawnypaw were bounding up to her, tails flicking in excitement. Tawnypaw knocked her over and stared at her, his dark eyes glittering with happiness. "Did you hear that, Moonpaw? We are going to attack WindClan!"

Moonpaw blinked in disbelief at her brothers. _Are Starpaw and Tawnypaw really happy about this?_ "Our very first battle!" Starpaw mewed at Moonpaw, his pelt bristling with excitement. His blue eyes shone like they were about to become warriors. "I'm so excited!" answered Tawnypaw.

Frostpaw raced over to Tawnypaw and Starpaw. "A battle!" she meowed "I'd claw any mangy WindClan warrior ears off if I got my paws on them!" Moonpaw rolled her eyes. _No harm done, just a couple of arrogant siblings, that's all._ Eclipsepaw padded over silently to Moonpaw and sat down with her, resting her tail over Moonpaw's shoulder.

"They just can't wait to battle, can they?" she purred.

"I think they will be quite surprised when they face WindClan," Moonpaw mewed in response, feeling comfort surge through her body.

Starpaw pricked up his ears. "Us? Scared of WindClan?" he meowed in disbelief. "Never!" Tawnypaw added after him, "We are the strongest warriors in ShadowClan!" Darkleaf padded across the other side of the camp and gave a snort. "I am an elder and I could beat you in a fight without trying," he growled. Maplepaw padded up to the apprentices and gave a loud purr. "If you two want to be the strongest in ShadowClan," Maplepaw paused and dropped into the hunter's crouch. "You are gonna have to catch me first!" Maplepaw took off sprinting around the camp with Starpaw and Tawnypaw at his heels, pushing and shoving each other to catch up.

Moonpaw closed her eyes and looked to Eclipsepaw. "I'm going to walk out into the marsh. I-I need to think," she slowly meowed. "Okay, but don't be long!" Eclipsepaw mewed. "I heard the mentors talking that the apprentices are going to have _special_ battle move training!" Moonpaw's eyes widened. Her sister was all about the battle, too? Moonpaw bounded over to her mentor, Twistclaw. She turned her head away from Embersong and looked at Moonpaw, her emerald green eyes shining with the thought of vengeance. "Hi there, Moonpaw. Do you want to get to training now?"

Moonpaw stared. "No, I just… want to go out in the marsh, by myself. Can I?" Twistclaw blinked and gave her a curt nod, "Just be back by sunhigh. I want to you to be ready if WindClan does not cooperate," she mewed. "Okay, I will!" Moonpaw meowed, racing out into the marsh. The scents of the fresh soil filled her nose. Her paws sprinted from underneath her and she felt like she could jump up and fly.

She sped along the marshy ground and let the moist bark of a log graze her paws as she leapt over it. Stopping abruptly at the border with ThunderClan and observed the leaves swaying in the sweet, Greenleaf wind. Blinking slowly, she observed the WindClan border out in the distance, her eyes clouding over with dismay. Her whole Clan was obsessed with this battle that might never happen. _Why was this all of ShadowClan always looking for a way to seek justice against other Clans, It was only one piece of fresh kill! But then again, it is against the Warrior code to steal prey from another territory. Maybe this Gathering will be the end of WindClan bothering ShadowClan._

Moonpaw shivered. What if just talking to WindClan wasn't going to cooperate? What if WindClan decides to steal more prey and ShadowClan starves. Was fighting the only way? Moonpaw blinked at the open moor of WindClan territory. WindClan wasn't easily persuaded. They did what they had to do if they were to prosper. Even at the cost of the suffering of other Clans. This was the only way. The soft ShadowClan breeze ruffled Moonpaw's pelt.

Moonpaw padded back to the camp, passing her brothers tackling each other in practice for the battle with WindClan. But she turned away from them and headed towards the apprentices' den. Once there, she found her place to rest, Moonpaw laid her head down on the moss. As soon as she closed her eyes she found herself in the forest, surrounded by fighting cats that seemed to take no notice to her. Unknown cats struggling to keep the upper-hand.

Moonpaw looked in horror of all of this. Dying kits sprawled across a camp nursery, and a dark cat with one pure white spot on her forehead, tending to them. Moonpaw assumed it was a medicine cat, but whose? As she gazed at the cat, it became more and more familiar; as if she had seen it before, in a memory of some sort. Then, she realized it was _herself_.

The world around was a blurr. Except for one wailing kit behind her. Moonpaw turned around to see the kit that had been wailing in the grasp of the shadow-like medicine cat. Moonpaw went wide-eyed, but the other cat simply nodded her head and bounded away in the darkness, leaving Moonpaw awestruck.

There was a voice. A voice she had never heard of before. It was calling her name.

"Moonpaw, turn around."

Moonpaw turned around to see Sootstar, the former leader, standing behind her. "Sootstar, what are you doing here? I thought you were dead."

"Moonpaw, I need to tell you something. It is very important that you listen."

"Yes, Sootstar."

"Moonpaw, you and your littermates are more important to the safety of ShadowClan than you realize. You need to keep them safe, Moonpaw. You need to be the one StarClan can rely on for interpreting prophecies."

"How? Should I become the fiercest warrior?"

"No, something different. Think about it. But for now, I think Frostpaw and Tawnypaw are very worried about you. Until we meet again, sweet Moonpaw"

"What? Sootstar, wait. Come back! Tell me more!"

As Sootstar's ghostly shape disappeared, Moonpaw felt something stabbing her in the flank. She blinked and woke up on the ground, with Frostpaw prodding at her side. _How did I get here?_ Moonpaw thought. The last time she checked, before the vision, she was in the apprentices' den. But now, she was in the middle of the marsh.

"Moonpaw! Thank StarClan you are okay!"

"Wha-what happened? Where am I? How did I get here?"

"You walked here. We asked where you were going, but you didn't answer" answered Tawnypaw

A wave of confusion inundated over Moonpaw as she gazed around her surroundings. She was practically alone except for Frostpaw and Tawnypaw and in a part of the marsh that she did not recognize. She noticed that it was moonhigh. "Never mind that! Let's just get back to camp, it's already dark." Moonpaw spat.

"Right, um, that way," Tawnypaw pointed towards a large rock, " right?"

"How am I supposed to know?" questioned Moonpaw, trying not to show any fear. "If I can't remember getting here then I definitely don't remember how to get back!"

"Um, okay"

Moonpaw let out an exasperated sigh. _At least Frostpaw knows the way back, I know I can always rely on her._ Moonpaw padded up to Frostpaw, leaving Tawnypaw at the rear. She still wondered about what her dream meant and how she got this far into the forest unnoticed by most. _There's probably a patrol out looking for us,_ Moonpaw had no idea how long she had been walking or how long she had been there.

"So, Frostpaw?"

"Yeah?" Frostpaw turned her attention towards her.

"Don't you still have that bee sting?"

"Mossheart has given me some of her herbs to make the pain bearable, she says I'll be able to train like a real apprentice with you by tomorrow. Anymore questions?"

"Yes, actually. How in the name of StarClan did I get here!"

Frostpaw laughed and began explaining that during the time that Moonpaw thought she was in the forest, she was actually just walking on a strange path to the middle of the marsh, when she suddenly stopped and dropped on the forest floor. By the time Frostpaw finished explaining, they were already at the camp.

Not wanting to draw too much attention to herself, she bounded back into the apprentices den and tried to fall back asleep. Several things were bothering her; the possible attack on WindClan, her vision, and Dovefeather. She assumed Scarface was the cause of this all, but she had no proof. All she could do now was just sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

_Eclipsepaw's eyes fluttered open as the sun peeked over the horizon,_ through the opening of the den. Moonpaw walked up to her and stared intently below, into her eyes. Eclipsepaw bolted up, hitting Moonpaw square in the jaw.

"Hey!" Moonpaw yowled, " what was that for?!"

"Sorry," Eclipsepaw muttered, dropping her tail and padding off

Moonpaw stretched but pause abruptly, her eyes wide, sighed, and meowed softly, "Come with me, Eclipsepaw." She stared at her sister in wonder. _What is going on? What is wrong with Moonpaw? She_ never _acts like this, never. What is going on?_ Moonpaw interrupted her thought and shook her head towards the exit of the den. "Come, I want to show you something."

The two apprentices then began to walk out of the den. Eclipsepaw was worried and confused at the same time. She had no idea what was going on with Moonpaw, nor did she know where she was taking her, but she had to trust her.

Moonpaw led her further and further into the marsh. As they padded along the soggy ground, Eclipsepaw whispered, "Look, a mouse!" She stalked up to the mouse, her belly dragging along the boggy ground. As she pounced, the mouse looked at her, eyes wild with fear and tried to skitter away. Eclipsepaw landed just as the mouse escaped, but reached out with her paw and clawed it's neck. "This is no time for hunting, we must travel fast if we want to get to the place we need to by sundown"

Eclipsepaw quickly ate the mouse and followed Moonpaw to a cave. Moonpaw padded into the cave and Eclipsepaw wasn't a very big cave, probably only big enough to fit one more apprentice without getting cramped. "So, what exactly are we doing here?" Eclipsepaw asked, the curiosity growing in the darkness.

"I've been visited by StarClan-"

"What!" interrupted Eclipsepaw, "You've been visited by StarClan?"

"Shh! You don't want to alarm the whole clan, do you?"

"Sorry"

"As I was saying, I was visited by StarClan last night and I woke up in the marsh. Sootstar was there, too. He told me that we all we very important to the survival of ShadowClan and I need to help keep you safe. He said I needed to be the one to speak with StarClan and interpret signs from them that concerned us."

Eclipsepaw recalled her own vision as a kit. She remembered how scared and sad she was after the dreadful words were said. _Five kits were born to fulfill a prophecy together, four apprentices will become warriors, and three will save the forest. One will not survive._ She shivered at the memory, but she still wondered what they meant by "One will not survive." Was StarClan telling her that she would not survive? It was all so confusing for a young apprentice to handle, so she tried to push these thoughts to the back of her mind.

"Eclipsepaw, I know you have had a vision too. Tell me"

Eclipsepaw told Moonpaw everything. She told her about the wailing of Moonpaw and the others. She told her how she felt afterward, sad and alone. Once finished, a pang of sadness rushed over her.

"You are not alone anymore. I'm going to try to tell Mossheart later about me, you can tell her on your own time. But I think Mossheart should know, she is the Clan's medicine cat, so StarClan tells her omens and prophecies that could decide the fate of ShadowClan, or any other Clan for that matter. Besides, Sootstar spoke to me and I think Mossheart could help."

Mossfur would definately know. She was the most powerful of all the clan, being the ShadowClan medicine cat and all. Eclipsepaw debated whether she would tell her or not. No, she wouldn't. This wasn't what she wanted. Maybe she would tell Mossfur later, but not now.

"Well, we've been gone long enough, I've told you what we came here for. We should get back to camp, should we not?"

Eclipsepaw nodded her head in agreement and padded out of the cave. Their trip back to the camp was mostly silent, although the siblings did catch some prey to cover up where they had been. They two sisters made it to the entrance together, but then on Moonpaw headed to Mossfur's den. With nothing else to do, Eclipsepaw decided to follow her. As the sisters entered her den, Eclipsepaw felt a sense of uncertainty come over her.

Moonpaw explained her message and paused for Eclipsepaw to speak as well, but Eclipsepaw was not ready to explain herself. Mossheart did not notice this and said, "Thank you for telling me Moonpaw. StarClan has not said anything to me yet, I wonder why they picked you." The dark medicine cat then seemed to realize something. "Why are you here Eclipsepaw?" Not waiting for Eclipsepaw to answer, Mossheart shooed the black apprentice out of the den.

 _I'll tell her later,_ thought Eclipsepaw. Her heart was clouded with confusion. She saw Moonpaw peer out of the den and run towards her mentor. Moonpaw whispered something to Twistclaw, but she was too far to hear them.

"I followed you and Moonpaw"

Eclipsepaw jolted up from her sitting position to see that Lightningpaw was beside her. A pang of fear ran through her body. "H-how much have you seen?"

"When you went in the small cave, I left"

Eclipsepaw was flooded with relief. At least Lightningpaw had not heard the two talking.

"Hey, so, when you were talking with Moonpaw, uh, did I come up in the conversation at all? Did Moonpaw mention my name, by any chance?" Asked Lightningpaw

Eclipsepaw smiled and tried to hold in laughter. "No," she answered, "Why do you ask? Do you _like_ her?"

Lightningpaw blushed. "No, of course not. Who would like that sad little ray of magnificence." Lightningpaw realized his mistake and almost immediately wanted to take it back.

Eclipsepaw's face scrunched up. She tried to relax, but failed miserably. Eclipsepaw got closer to Lightningpaw and was under his chin, brushing his side "Well, Lightningpaw, if do love Moonpaw-"

Lightningpaw opened his mouth to deny her accusation but Eclipsepaw spoke first.

"I never said you did, but if you do, you have a lot of work cut out for you. Moonpaw likes to play 'hard to get' and isn't particularly looking for a mate at only six moons old. You know what I mean?"

Lightningpaw nodded and slowly started to pad away for her. Eclipsepaw laughed at herself. Little did Lightningpaw know that she was lying the whole time. "Ah, young love," she muttered to herself and turned away from Lightningpaw.

Eclipsepaw's happy thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Dovefeather's call for a clan meeting. She saw Mossheart and Moonpaw padding up to the white clan leader and couldn't help but wondering what this was all about.

"All cats old enough to catch their own prey gather under this branch for a clan meeting," yowled Dovefeather. The ShadowClan leader waited until all had been gathered and then continued. "Mossheart has notified me that the apprentice, Moonpaw, has been visited by StarClan and was asked to be the one to perform medicine cat duties. So, Moonpaw will continue her apprenticeship with Mossheart as her mentor."

The crowd was murmuring with surprise and Eclipsepaw, along with Starpaw, Tawnypaw, and Frostpaw, were shocked. Eclipsepaw remembered the conversation with Lightningpaw she had only moments ago and turned her head to see Lightningpaw's reaction. His head hung while walking into the apprentice's den and she could not help pitying the lovesick apprentice.

"It is not definite yet, I am waiting for a sign from StarClan to confirm that this is what they wanted her to become," Yellowfang added.

"Moonpaw, we are all very curious about your meeting with StarClan. Would you tell us what you saw?" inquired Dovefeather

Moonpaw looked so small and weak up on Highhill. Her tail between her legs and there was a faint trace of fear-scent coming from her. "I, uh, I was in the middle of a battle and a nursery with dead kits all around, and I saw myself as a medicine cat. That was it though."

Eclipsepaw glanced at Mossheart and saw that her face was confused at Moonpaw. Moonpaw looked up at Yellowfang, too, and seemed to tell her something with only her eyes.

"Alright then, meeting adjourned"

Moonpaw bounded off of the branch and down to her siblings. The possible medicine cat apprentice did not seem as happy as she did anxious. Then there was silence between the five apprentices. Eclipsepaw opened her mouth to speak but Starpaw spoke before her and practically stole the words from her mouth.


	7. Chapter 7

" _No, you can't become a medicine cat apprentice!"_ Starpaw's eyes were wide with shock, and clouded with dismay. "What about all the plans we had made to train together?" Frostpaw stood up, her neck fur bristling. "You _can't_ become a medicine cat apprentice!" she hissed. "We have always done everything together as siblings! You can't just… just... _abandon_ us like this!" Starpaw flicked his ears in acknowledgement to Frostpaw. She was right. Ever since the five apprentices had opened their eyes they had always done everything together; even facing a scolding from Honeyflower when only one of them had done something wrong. It just wasn't like Moonpaw to leave her littermates behind.

"Well," Tawnypaw began. "Maybe it is just the best for Moonpaw. She's never liked the fighting. If she becomes a medicine cat apprentice she will not have to worry so much about the dangers of battle. She will be amazing at healing and free from battle."

"How could you _ever_ say something like that, Tawnypaw? Moonpaw has never left us behind!" The words flowed out of Starpaw's mouth like water. He just couldn't hold it back. He had to say something. But then again, Tawnypaw may be right. Moonpaw was always a peace-loving, timid cat who just couldn't handle all of the tension between the Clans.

"You all are over reacting! I know that we had plans together, but Sootstar told me to be the one to protect you. I don't know how, but Yellowfang is waiting for a sign from StarClan that this is what he meant. " Moonpaw added.

"That's true!" Eclipsepaw began, "Besides, we are not the ones to chose Moonpaw's life. We are not StarClan. I for one can live with Moonpaw's decision, how about you Starpaw?"

Starpaw opened his mouth to retort something but was interrupted by the sound of his mentor calling his name.

"Starpaw!"

The wind ruffled Starpaw's fluffy fur. He whipped around to see that Bullheart was looking at him from across the clearing, his eyes narrowed. "Come on Starpaw! Are you going to sit there like a log or come with me to do some battle training?" Starpaw looked at his siblings. He could see disappointment glow in their eyes. "I….guess I have to go," he muttered. Tawnypaw licked his paw and then looked at Bullheart. "He must be really tough on you, huh?"

"I know but it will all be worth it once I am the best warrior in ShadowClan!" Starpaw touched noses with Moonpaw. "Do what you think is best for you. Don't listen to the others." Moonpaw gave Starpaw a playful cuff around the ear. "You were the one that started it!" she hissed. Starpaw twitched his tail and padded off. "I'll see you guys around the fresh kill pile tonight!" he called.

"Well that took you long enough," Bullheart hissed. "Do you even want to be a ShadowClan warrior or not?" Starpaw's pelt bristled. "Of course I do!" he meowed. Did Bullheart really think that Starpaw was slacking? He had been training his hardest for the past two moons! _This means I am clearly going to have to work my paws off if I want to become a warrior._ He glanced at Bullheart, who was concentrated on getting to the training hollow. Starpaw wanted to get off the conversation.

"What are we going to do today?"

The brown warrior turned his head only for a glance at his apprentice, then whipped his head away as soon as Starpaw noticed. Bullheart seemed to think about it for a moment and then answered, "I have realized that we have only been focusing on your battle moves," he murmured. "Those are coming along nicely, so I have changed my mind. Today, rather than beginning on your advanced battle tactics, we will be hunting."

Starpaw flattened his ears. He didn't know whether to be happy or disappointed. He could take whatever he caught to Moonpaw and Yellowfang, but he _hated_ hunting.

Starpaw followed Bullheart into a place filled to the brim with prey probably so that he wouldn't have spend countless hours trying to find the prey itself _instead_ of catching it. Starpaw heard sounds all around him. He scented mice, voles, mockingbirds, crows, ravens, rabbits and a lot of other animals that would look perfect on the fresh kill pile.

"Watch me and try to copy, I'll correct your stance if you do it wrong later."

Bullheart lowered to a crouch so that he could not be seen. Starpaw tried to copy his form while he still had a model. He noticed that he could not hear his footsteps, so tried to be light footed. All of a sudden, he pounced into the tall grass. Bullheart came back with a juicy rabbit in his mouth.

"I want to try! I want-"

Bullheart flicked his tail signaling him to be quiet. "Do you _want_ scare everything away?" Starpaw lowered his head. "No," he dug in the ground with his paws, embarrassed.

"Good. Now did you notice anything about my position?"

"Well, you were crouched down and you were light footed," he announced happily.

"Anything else?"

"No?"

"Starpaw, what did I catch?"

"A rabbit"

"There you go!" Starpaw tipped his head in confusion. He had never hunted rabbit before. "Is that what we are learning today, to hunt rabbit?

Bullheart nodded his head in approval. "Yes. WindClan hunts rabbits," he meowed "But from time to time a rabbit will stray into ShadowClan territory. That is fair game and you don't want your Clan to starve, One of the secrets to hunting rabbit is to be silent so it won't hear you. Creep up on it downwind so it won't smell you, and when you are close enough, break into a chase."

"Yes, Bullheart!"

Almost immediately Starpaw smelled something, His ears pricked up. WindClan. What were they doing here? Starpaw turned his head towards his mentor, Bullheart smelled them too. They crouched and creeped towards the smell. He parted the grass and there they were, Those mangy, prey-stealing WindClan cats. One was chasing a rabbit clearly, and prominently marked by ShadowClan.

Starpaw backed up. "They're stealing more prey on our territory." The young apprentice was infuriated. This was the second time before the Gathering that they stole prey from ShadowClan territory,"We need to report this."

"Right. You go and tell Dovestar while I will continue to watch them. Oh, and send two more warriors over here."

Starpaw nodded and ran as fast as he could back to the camp, which wasn't that far away. Dovestar was heading toward Mossfur to check up on Moonpaw.

"Dovestar! Dovestar, quick!"

Alarmed, Dovestar turned his head to face Starpaw.

"Dovestar, WindClan is stealing prey from our territory! Bullheart wants backup to drive them out. Hurry! In the tall grass!"

Starpaw realized how loud he was meowing because by now there was a crowd around him.

"WindClan? In _our_ territory? Starpaw, take Twistclaw, Foxstripe, and Tulippaw to the tall grass, quickly!"

With that Starpaw, Foxstripe, Twistclaw, and Tulippaw were racing out of the camp towards the tall grass. Once there they found Bullheart battling three WindClan cats. Starpaw charged at Bullheart's attackers, the fury burning in his eyes. Bullheart was suffering severe injuries he had intervene. Foxstripe ordered Tulippaw to bring Bullheart back to camp while the others kept fighting.

Starpaw managed to pin down a warrior and place a good nick in his ear. _That'll teach him to stay out of ShadowClan!_ he thought to himself, bitterly. Foxstripe had also pinned a warrior down, while Twistclaw was battering at an apprentice. The three WindClan cats fled and Starpaw chased them to the border. After, making sure they were off Shadowclan territory Twistclaw, Foxstripe, and Starpaw headed back to camp with small scratches.

"You fought well, Starpaw. Bullheart must be doing something right" said Foxstripe and Starpaw realized that he really had. He had taken down a full WindClan warrior at only four moons old. Starpaw was impressed with himself.

"Thank you, Foxstripe. Bullheart says I'm coming along quite nicely," Foxstripe nodded his head.

"I can tell," responded Twistclaw.

Starpaw smiled and continued on the trail, pondering if he would become a warrior after this battle. He laughed at the silly thought. He couldn't hunt well yet, that still had to be learned before he became a real warrior.

Dovestar was waiting for them back at the camp. She looked stressed. "Well?" she said, anxiously.

"All is well. We drove WindClan off the territory, Starpaw made sure of that. He also managed to give one WindClan warrior a big tear in the ear." meowed Twistclaw, confidently.

"Good. This has got to stop. If WindClan is spotted on ShadowClan territory another time before the gathering, we have no choice but to attack."

"Dovestar, if WindClan breaks the Warrior Code one more time we must go to war with them," advised Scarface, who had come behind and sat down next to Dovestar.

Starpaw's pelt bristled. "War!" A battle would be fine but a war would be going a little too far. Was Scarface thinking about how many cats would be lost? Starpaw wanted nothing more in his life than to be in the midst of battle, with enemy blood pulsing warm and sticky as Starpaw bit into their flesh. But then he imagined war. Little ShadowClan kits hiding in the nursery, their eyes round with fear as waves after waves of cats descending on the camp, their faces pictures of fury.

No, Starpaw would not let that happen. There would not be a war, he would make sure of that. But this was at the back of his priorities, for now. Bullheart was being tended to by Mossfur and Moonpaw and war with WindClan was merely an idea floating around ShadowClan. It probably wouldn't happen.

Even though Moonpaw wasn't officially Mossfur's apprentice, she was teaching and testing Moonpaw for the time being. For now, Starpaw was going to let Moonpaw be happy. _She'll learn._ he said to himself. He glanced over to Moonpaw who was tending to Bullheart. "Hold still," she scolded. _She'll have to learn where she truly belongs._ He ached with sadness and flinched like he was raked across the face with a sharp claw. _But she looks so happy. She doesn't have to worry about training or war. Maybe this is what Dovestar was talking about…_

Starpaw shook his head, his eyes cloudy. He would sleep with only Frostpaw next to him in the apprentice den. No! He couldn't let this happen. He looked behind him. Frostpaw was standing there. Her eyes were blazing with sorrow. She mewed in her agony so quiet that Starpaw could barely hear her.

The two padded over to Moonpaw while Bullheart was at bay. Moonpaw noticed that they were here and looked over to Mossfur and asked, "Mossfur? Bullheart is fine for now, uh, Starpaw and Frostpaw are here though. I'll go see what they want." Mossfur sighed and padded over to check on Bullheart once again.

"So, what are you two doing here? Is somebody sick?" She peered over Frostpaw's shoulder.

"No, we just wanted to say hello and check up on you, that's all," Frostpaw answered. "But we can see that you are fine so I guess we will be leaving now." Frostpaw turned her body away towards her mentor and started walking. "Oh, okay. I'll see you later then, bye" answered Moonpaw, her tail drooped down for a moment. "Moonpaw! Come on, there is still training to be done!" With that Moonpaw scampered back into the den.

Starpaw was alone again. He sighed. Silverpelt was starting to show and his eyes were beginning to droop. The time to sleep was upon him and Starpaw couldn't help but being tired after the long day. The battle with WindClan during his lesson was probably the most exciting thing that had ever happened to him.

Starpaw began to pad back to the den but was stopped abruptly by a dark mottled pelt flashing at him from the darkness .

"Tawnypaw!"


	8. Chapter 8

_Tawnypaw thought he had his brother pinned to the ground but was forgetting that Starpaw was much bigger and stronger than himself_. Starpaw suddenly threw himself up, thrusting Tawnypaw off his back. The surprised apprentice was on his back. Starpaw took his chance and pinned Tawnypaw to the ground, keeping his stomach exposed.

"What goes around, comes around!"

Tawnypaw smirked. "Alright, you win," Starpaw let go of Tawnypaw. "Oh, great and powerful Starpaw." Tawnypaw already knew that he would lose against his muscular brother. The only reason he thought he had the slightest chance was that Tawnypaw noticed that Starpaw was tired and was hoping his brother's fatigue would limit him.

Tawnypaw had the urge to ask his brother something. "Have you noticed anyone becoming interested in you lately?"

"Sadly, yes. But the one she-cat I really want to notice me isn't at all interested in me."

"Oh, right, Applepaw." Tawnypaw rolled his eyes. Every cat in ShadowClan knew about Starpaw's crush on Applepaw. He'd been crushing on her since the day they had met.

Scarface called Tawnypaw for a patrol with Frostpaw and Embersong. Tawnypaw bowed his head in goodbye to Starpaw. As the patrol walked along the border, Tawnypaw stopped. "I smell fresh Thunderclan scent!"

"It's probably just a the border markings," Frostpaw meowed.

"No, the border marks are across the stream," Embersong reminded her.

"Look!" Tawnypaw hissed, "I spot a Thunderclan tom. Freshly fed, and looking pretty good from the sight of that mange-pelt."

"I don't recognize him. He must be a rogue." Scarface gruffly said.

"But he has the ThunderClan scent!" Tawnypaw persisted.

"Who cares? Whoever and whatever that cat is, he's ThunderClan problem not ours," Frostpaw argued.

"We might want to get a move on. I for one don't want to fight with only two warriors!" Embersong joked. She and Scarface gave a _mrrow_ of laughter and continued to patrol the border with their apprentices not far behind.

There wasn't any other sightings of enemy clans for the rest of the patrol but they did find a trace of WindClan from what Tawnypaw suspected was from Starpaw's battle earlier. Scarface renewed the border markings on the WindClan border. "Just in case those rabbit-eating furballs forget" he said. Then they left.

The camp was just how they had left it. Just then Dovestar lept onto the branch and yowled. Tawnypaw realized something; tonight was the Gathering! He had never been to a Gathering before and was practically bouncing out of his fur to see who would attend!

"I have chosen who will join me at the gathering," Dovestar began. "Scarface, Sparrowpaw, Runningpaw, Muzzleberry, Tulippaw, Twistclaw, Applepaw, Poisonfang, Embersong, Frostpaw, Mossfur, Moonpaw, Eclipsepaw, Starpaw, Robinfeather, Lightningpaw, and Tawnypaw." The crowd seemed to nod in approvement. "I realize there are a lot of apprentices, but that is only because we have a lot of new apprentices to show at the gathering. We want to keep the other clans on their paws."

Tawnypaw leaped with excitement. His first gathering! His first chance to formally meet with the other clans under the sacred oath of StarClan. And he would be able to share the feeling with all of his littermates.

Tawnypaw bounded towards his siblings who were huddled in a circle. Starpaw's head peered out looking for him. He pushed Eclipsepaw over some for Tawnypaw to get in.

"Ah, yes, Tawnypaw! You are finally here!" said Eclipsepaw, her eyes beaming with excitement. Tawnypaw could guess she was as excited as he was.

"Now that we know we are going to the gathering tonight, we should probably head over to Mossfur. Er...Moonpaw?" Starpaw peered around and realized that Moonpaw was nowhere to be seen. He sighed.

"I guess we head over to Mossfur _and_ Moonpaw" said Tawnypaw, only half joking. They were all sad that they would not share training with their now medicine cat's apprentice sister, but they at least had to pretend they were happy for her; so they did.

They four apprentices padded over to where Moonpaw and Mossfur were. Tawnypaw was the last inside of the den only to see several other warriors waiting for their traveling herbs. all for their trip to the gathering. _They must be going a long way if we need traveling herbs, thought Tawnypaw._

"This is probably going to take a while," Tawnypaw heard Frostpaw whisper to Eclipsepaw. She was right though, this probably will take a while. With Moonpaw scampering around their storage, trying to remember everything Mossfur had taught her, and Mossfur doing the same, the gathering would already be over by the time they had gotten their share of traveling herbs.

It was only after two cats had gone that Moonpaw seemed to noticed them. Her eyes lit up in excitement. "I can't believe it!" She sighed. "Our very first Gathering!" Tawnypaw twitched his whiskers. This was the first time in a while since he had seen Moonpaw this excited. The last time he saw her like this was when they were playful, carefree kits.

He sighed at the memory. Would it ever be as simple as that again? No. It never will. Tawnypaw had to face the facts; Moonpaw is not coming back. Even still, Moonpaw looked excited that they were here and immediately started to prepare for them while Mossfur did the others.

"I suppose you want traveling herbs, correct?" She questioned.

The four nodded. With that, Moonpaw jumped to her feet and raced away into the back of the den. It was only a few minutes later that the young apprentice returned with traveling herbs for each of them.

Tawnypaw decided that he would have enough time to take a small nap before they left if Applepaw would leave him alone for a second . He lied down in his nest and fell into a deep troubled sleep. _His brother was crushing on Applepaw and even though she didn't notice him now she would at some point. But, who would he end up with. There was no she-cat that had caught his interest._ Finally he fell into the darkness of sleep

Tawnypaw felt a sharp stab repeat soon after. He awoke with a start to realize that Applepaw was prodding him in the side. He forced his bristling neck fur to lie flat when he saw the desperation in her eyes.

"Tawnypaw! Wake up! We are leaving for Gathering!"

Tawnypaw got up and stretched. His traveling herbs were exactly where he left them. He quickly swallowed them, wincing at the bitter taste of the herbs. He attempted to spit one out in the moss, but instantly stopped when he saw Moonpaw's stare boring into his pelt. "Don't even try it" she growled. "If you spit out just one of those herbs then you will regret it." Moonpaw stalked over and waved her tail over Tawnypaw's muzzle. "Besides," her voice became her usual soft purr. "The bitter taste will fade soon enough."

Tawnypaw was just standing up when Applepaw bounded over and gave him a prod in the side. Her whiskers were twitching and Applepaw's eyes were blazing with excitement for the Gathering. "Hurry up. We need to get there soon. Plus this is our first Gathering and I-I just _can't_ wait!" She mewed

"Okay. Settle down Applepaw. It's not like it's the end of the world." Tawnypaw muttered. He didn't understand how Starpaw liked Applepaw so much. She was so… energetic. Tawnypaw just sighed. Starpaw _was_ energetic, after all. Applepaw rolled her eyes and gave a sniff. "It will be if you don't hurry up!"

Tawnypaw flicked his tail, as Applepaw sped off, to signal that he was coming. He staggered over to the group of ShadowClan cats; his midday nap had made him dizzy on his paws. Tawnypaw took this chance to signal for the rest of his littermates to follow him.

"Isn't our first gathering going to be so exciting?" Applepaw said excitedly. "I can't wait to meet all the cats from the different clans! Just think, we get to meet cats from Riverclan, Windclan, and ThunderClan ! I'm so excited!"

"Okay, I think we get the point," Twistclaw growled as he slunk past.

"Yes, Twistclaw," said Applepaw, trembling.

"Applepaw, just because he was made a warrior recently, doesn't me he has as much authority as clan leader!" Tawnypaw muttered to Applepaw.

"Right, but he has a point, and we are not warriors yet."

Tawnypaw was about to reply but his littermates finally caught up with him and Applepaw, anxious and excited for their first gathering. The two slowed down so they would be in union on their way to the gathering, all the while making sure that they stayed the agreed upon five tail-lengths distance from the shore.

Moonpaw's fur was bristling with excitement. "Do you think I should stay with Mossfur? She told me that I didn't have to stay with her getting there, but it would be wise to stay close once the gathering actually starts."

Starpaw rolled his eyes. "Nah, stick with us until she thinks you should go with her."

"Besides," added Frostpaw, "We have some important 'business' to discuss."

"Oh! What type of business?"Applepaw inquired.

At that moment, they realized with a jolt that Applepaw was still with them. Starpaw signaled Frostpaw to try to lead her somewhere out of hearing. The white apprentice rolled her eyes and scanned the crowd for Tulippaw.

"Hey, Applepaw," started Frostpaw. Applepaw turned her attention to Frostpaw. "I think Tulippaw is looking for you, over there."

Applepaw flick her ears in goodbye and bounded ahead to catch up with her sister.

Eclipsepaw rolled her eyes. "Starpaw, I can't believe you like Applepaw. She so, well, you know."

"Energetic?" Offered Moonpaw, "Sprightly?"

"So? She is good natured and has a pure heart. How could a tom not like her?"

 _Maybe because his brother in love with the her, yet she loves him even when it's obvious that he only thinks of her as a friend?_ Tawnypaw thought to himself.

The log bridge was just up ahead. Tawnypaw had heard stories from elders about how the log bridge got there. They had said that a WindClan cat named Mudclaw had tried to attack WindClan with some of his followers. His plan failed and he fled only for a tree to fall on him. They say that StarClan was so angry with him, that they sent that tree to fall on him. And now they use that tree to cross onto the island.

Tawnypaw was the last to jump on the log. He leaped onto the bridge and soon found that it was much more slippery than he predicted. He dug his claws into the bark like a squirrel and began to carefully make his way across the log. His nose was overwhelmed with the scents of RiverClan and ThunderClan. He turned around to see WindClan cats right behind them.

Tawnypaw noticed that the others were already of the log. He leaped of the log and onto the mushy sand. The sky was clear and the moon was shining bright, a perfect night for a gathering. Eclipsepaw flicked her ears towards the clump of ShadowClan cats, waiting for Dovefeather to give the signal to dive into the brambles. Tawnypaw made his way closer to Dovefeather and Swanfern.

At the flick of Dovefeather's tail, the ShadowClan warriors dove into the bracken surrounding the island. Tawnypaw was surprised at the amount of RiverClan and ThunderClan warriors were there. His nose picked up the scents of cats of all clans over the generations. Frostpaw and RiverClan apprentice almost immediately bounded over to Tawnypaw. Already making friends, typical Frostpaw.

"Tawnypaw! This is Frostfern, she is a new warrior, and I'm glad. Just imagine, if we both went to the Gathering and we were both apprentices. You would call, "Frostpaw," and we would have both turned around. Wouldn't that be funny, Tawnypaw?" Frostpaw padded up to her brother and brushed her flank along his, purring loudly.

"Yeah... so funny," he didn't really care that Frostfern and Frostpaw had the same apprentice names, but Frostpaw didn't notice the edge to his tone and continued babbling about nothing important. However, Tawnypaw's mind was elsewhere.

The Gathering was filled with cats. There were so many different colored pelts. And these were just a few cats from every Clan! Tawnypaw glanced over at Starpaw who was happily chatting away with Hawkpaw, a WindClan cat.

Tawnypaw's pelt bristled. He knew his brother's hatred for WindClan cats. But now he was talking to a WindClan apprentice as if they were clanmates! He felt warmth rush through him to see the friendliness in Starpaw's gaze, but it was only because of the truce of the full moon. _Would Starpaw have attacked Hawkpaw if StarClan never created the truce? Would Starpaw attack_ anyone _if there was no truce to protect the other Clans?_

He put the question aside since it wasn't up to him to dictate who his brother talked to. Tawnypaw walked away looking for someone to talk to. His head turned toward the Thunderclan apprentices and he saw a beautiful white she-cat sitting next to a gray tabby tom, and she was gazing back at him curiously. Tawnypaw was starstruck by this cat's beauty, but he shook those thoughts from his mind. How could he love someone he did not even know and from another clan nonetheless. Still though Tawnypaw could not shake the beautiful feline from his mind for the rest of the night.


	9. Chapter 9

_Frostpaw had left Frostfern and drifted around to where the elders were exchanging news._ Robinfeather was chatting in hushed tones to a ThunderClan elder. His eyes glancing back at Frostpaw, who was steadily heading for the two. Robinfeather suddenly stopped and turned towards Frostpaw.

"This is Graystorm," he said, as if to answer Frostpaw's unspoken question.

"And this is Heatherwhisker, she is from RiverClan," Graystorm finished.

"Hello, small one. What is your name?" Heatherwhisker asked.

"My name is Frostpaw, I'm one of ShadowClan's new apprentices," Frostpaw answered.

"I was just telling Graystorm about you new apprentices," meowed Robinfeather

"There seems to be a lot of apprentices this new-leaf. RiverClan also has some new apprentices. We are lucky to have them," added Heatherwhisker.

"Yes, I-" Graystorm's sentence was cut off by the sound of Dovestar calling the Gathering to order. The four Clan leaders jumped onto the stump.

Dovestar started, "First off, I have some very somber news. A half moon ago, Sootstar lost his last life to a collapsed badger set while on a patrol. By the time the other warriors on the patrol got him out, he had already joined the ranks of StarClan. I became Clan leader and received my nine lives from StarClan a few nights ago." The cats below mewed softly muttering in grief for the fallen leader. Dovestar raised her voice to a more cheerful tone as she continued. "However, I do have some more joyful news. ShadowClan has been privileged enough to welcome several apprentices within the last moon and the prey is running well."

The crowd was murmuring. Not only because of the surprise of Sootstar's death, but the fear of how many new opponents they would have to fight. Frostpaw couldn't help but be excited about she being accepted by the clans as a new apprentice.

"We now have Sparrowpaw, Runningpaw, Starpaw, Eclipsepaw, Tawnypaw, and Frostpaw," Dovestar continued, Frostpaw couldn't help but shivering at her new name. "And our medicine cat, Mossfur, has taken on an apprentice, Moonpaw," Dovestar concluded proudly. The gathered cats cheered the new apprentices' names.

Willowstar advanced, "All is well in WindClan, we have two new apprentices, Hawkpaw and Bubblepaw, and Ashleaf has taken on an apprentice as well, Snowpaw. We also have three new warriors, Whitespot, Swiftfoot, and Darkfur."

Willowstar stepped back for Stagstar to leap forward. His broad shoulders and brown pelt shone in the moonlight and his amber eyes glowed. "ThunderClan has been doing well, we have enough prey to go around and are getting stronger than ever. We now also have some new apprentices, Redpaw, Ravenpaw, and Skypaw," he announced.

Stagstar smiled proudly and sauntered back so that Birchstar could share his news as well. Frostpaw was surprised by the leader's shape; he was much more sleek than his clanmates. She guessed that it must be the fact that RiverClan was close to the river, making their coats thick and more sleek for swimming and catching fish.

Frostpaw looked at the RiverClan warriors sitting a few tail lengths behind her and wrinkled her nose. They reeked of fish! A tabby RiverClan tom turned his gaze around to Frostpaw and glared. "What is it?" he snarled. His sleek pelt shone in the moonlight with his Clanmates, unlike ShadowClan, whose rough, dark pelts were barely visible among the shadows of the island echoing off the sides.

"Riverclan is doing well as always we have plenty of food to go around due to the lake and rivers in our territory," Birchstar continued, "We have no new apprentices, but we do have three new kits." He smiled proudly. "Larchwhisker has given birth to my kits, Rosekit, Oakkit, and Leafkit."

The ThunderClan cats were smiling as Birchstar stepped back and Dovestar came forward once again. "Well, if that's all we should probably call this Gathering to a close," and with that Dovestar jumped down from the tree and began to pad towards the fallen tree with her Clanmates following behind.

All of a sudden a blood curdling yowl rang through the forest. Most of the cats turned toward the direction of the sound. Except Dovestar. She just stood there, eyes wide in fear, frozen in her tracks.

"What's going on?" Frostpaw mewed, unsure of what to do. Dovestar spun around, her pelt bristling in fury. "ThunderClan is attacking!" the gentle, gray she-cat yowled. "ShadowClan! Return the favor!" Dovestar leapt forward at a warrior. Frostpaw turned around to where Stagstar was appalled.

"These cats are not of my clan!" He yowled in the struggle of the clans and the attackers.

"We aren't, Stagstar?" A calico she-cat yowled.

Frostpaw sped out of the gathering place and carefully raced across the fallen tree. She ran as fast as her paws could take her back to the ShadowClan camp for reinforcements only to be stopped by the sound of trouble coming from ThunderClan. The attackers were trying to ambush ThunderClan! Frostpaw knew now that Stagstar was not telling everything at the gathering that was actually going on. Frostpaw seemed to leap into the ShadowClan camp howling in alarm.

"We were under an attack… ThunderClan is being ambushed at their camp… We need to help them!" Frostpaw paused to catch her breath. Swanfern stepped out of the crowd and up to Frostpaw. "Where's Dovestar?" Swanfern said.

"She's still at the gathering, we need to help them!" Frostpaw wailed.

Swanfern nodded her head calmly but she was sending off waves of fear scent "Adderfang, Rosepetal, chose your warriors. Adderfang, you go and help Dovestar. Rosepetal, to the ThunderClan camp. Use the noise to find it. Now go!" She padded over to Adderfang while he chose Foxstripe, Muzzleberry, Poisonfang, Sprucetail and his apprentice to help Dovestar.

"I am coming with you Adderfang. There are more cats to protect a the gathering."

Adderfang nodded his head and lead his patrol out of the camp to the gathering place.. Lead by Rosepetal, the patrol left the camp and headed to ThunderClan territory.

"Frostpaw!" Frostpaw whipped her head around to see Honeyflower stricken with worry. "Are you okay? Did you get hurt?"

"No, honestly, I am fine. I ran out of there to tell Swanfern as fast as I could."

"You must be tired, please, rest," her mother insisted.

Rest didn't seem like a bad idea to Frostpaw, but she knew that she would never be able to fall asleep with everything going on. It didn't matter when there was cats attacking ThunderClan. They needed to help them. Honeyflower started pushing Frostpaw towards the apprentices den. She curled up in her nest and eyes soon were lowering without any effort. Soon, Frostpaw was asleep. But it didn't last long.

She was awaken by the sound of the same blood curdling yowl that she heard at the gathering. Immediately, she dashed out of the den to see what was happening. Yellow eyes were lining the rim of the camp. Frostpaw yowled in alarm, but it was cut short when the calico she-cat leaped on top of her and pinned her to the ground. _Where is everyone? Why aren't they fighting?_

"We needn't alarm the whole clan, now will we?"

Frostpaw struggled under the weight of the aggressive she-cat. Her lips drawn back to a snarl, she did the first thing she could think of. Frostpaw sank her fangs into her opponent's forepaw holding her down. The furious she-cat backed away and howled away in pain. A rogue tabby tom leaped towards the calico she-cat, his eyes both furious and worried.

"Speckle! Are you alright?" He asked.

"I'm fine, Tiger," Speckle's gaze returned to Frostpaw, her amber eyes burning with fury "But this one will soon not be"

At that moment, Speckle pounced towards Frostpaw but this time she anticipated her attack. The white apprentice dashed out of the way and Speckle landed with a crash. She jumped on top of her and dug her claws in her back. Speckle tried to get her off but Frostpaw was too quick for the rogue. The ShadowClan warriors peeked out of their dens, their eyes wide as they witnessed one apprentice take down the invading cats. Tiger swiped Frostpaw off of Speckle. The other rogues leaped down and surrounded her. _StarClan help me!_ At that moment Dovestar and her patrol stormed into the camp. Like a wave, the ShadowClan cats attacked the invaders. Then something occurred to her, _if Dovestar is here, than are her littermates following her?_


	10. Chapter 10

_Dovestar led her patrol out of the gathering place._ The medicine cats stayed back to help the injured warriors. Mossfur was tending to the elders while Moonpaw was searching the island for herbs that her mentor might be able to use. So far, she could only find cobwebs to stop the bleeding. As she continued to search, she wondered if Snowpaw had any better luck. As if to hear Moonpaw calling her name, Snowpaw padded next to her and asked, "Can you find anything?"

"No, but if you are ever in need of coltsfoot, there's a thriving patch right over there."

Snowpaw giggled, "Yeah, there really isn't much to work with here."

The two sighed. "Rumor has it that you were going to be a medicine cat, is it true?"

"Yes, my old mentor was Twistclaw. She wasn't bad or anything but-" Moonpaw stopped herself. She didn't want to tell Snowpaw about her visit from Sootstar. Snowpaw's eyes were burning with interest but she didn't ask about it.

"So Mossfur just agreed with you that you should become her apprentice?"

"No, not exactly. A quarter moon ago, Mossfur was waiting for a sign from StarClan. I was coming up to ask her a question when she went wide eyed. She told me that her sign had came and I became her apprentice."

"Why? what happened?"

"I don't know what happened. I just walked up to her and-"

Snowpaw's jaw dropped. She tipped her head and padded closer to Moonpaw. "What?" Moonpaw inquired. Snowpaw watched as Moonpaw's eyes became starry.

Moonpaw blinked and her world disappeared from under her paws. Lush forest and rushing water replaced it.

"Hello again, Moonpaw."

Moonpaw whipped her head around to see Sootstar sitting on a rock in the center of a stream.

"Sootstar? Am I in StarClan?"

"Yes. Moonpaw, there is something very bad coming over the Clans. As you have already noticed, a band of rogues have attacked the Clans. But there is something even worse to come. I can't tell you what but you need to be prepared."

"No! Please tell me what is going to happen!" She wailed, shaking her head.

"Unfortunately, I cannot. But, I know Snowpaw will be very worried if I keep you any longer. Until next time, Moonpaw," Sootstar murmured, and faded from sight. Moonpaw gave an angry hiss and leapt for where Sootstar was standing. His scent drifted in the air for only a few more heartbeats, and vanished. "Mouse dung!" Moonpaw spat. "Come back, Sootstar! You need to tell me _more!"_

"Moonpaw? Why are you murmuring about Sootstar?" Snowpaw's question awakened her back into the hollow. She shook her head attempting to knock the fear growing in her belly. Moonpaw briskly shook her head. "I can't tell you," she murmured. "Medicine cats cannot share their dreams about StarClan."

Snowpaw's tail slightly drooped. The she-cat dipped her head. "Okay," she mewed. "Wait, StarClan just visited you? Right there, right now, on the spot?"

Embarrassment rushed in a wave as Snowpaw's question sank in her. "Uh, I mean, yes. But I can't tell you anymore."

"Oh, I get it. Okay, let's get back to finding herbs we need."

It took Moonpaw barely a heartbeat to find a large patch of marigold in an open space between two trees. She was bubbling with excitement.

"Snowpaw, I found a huge patch of marigold! Help me take it back to Mossfur!"

Snowpaw shared her excitement. The white apprentice raced back over to Moonpaw and the two picked up as much as they could and carried it back to their mentors. Mossfur was very pleased on the amount she had brought back.

"This should be enough for all of these cats," Mossfur turned her attention back over to Embersong, who had a large gash on her side. The wound was dripping blood onto the forest floor. It flowed in scarlet rivulets and stained the ShadowClan warrior's paws. Moonpaw watched nervously while applying poultices. Mossfur gave Embersong's wound and beckoned Moonpaw with a flick of her tail. Moonpaw bounded over. The scent of infection was hot in the night air.

"It's infected," Mossfur murmured. "Moonpaw, get me some borage, cobweb, and thyme from my extra herb store in that bramble bush over there. Hurry!" Moonpaw weaved through the ShadowClan cats. Their faces were dark with worry. She picked up the herbs and headed back for Embersong and Mossfur. The gray medicine cat was hunched over the injured, golden warrior. The young, black apprentice pawed the herbs to Mossfur, who was frantically applying cobweb to the bleeding gash.

Mossfur opened Embersong's jaws to give her the thyme, but the warrior closed them, a spasm of pain ensuing. "Herbs won't save me anymore," she rasped. Mossfur hissed angrily. "You lost a lot of blood. Stop speaking nonsense and take the herbs!" Embersong's gaze flickered to Moonpaw. Her amber eyes were clouded with agony. "But… StarClan calls to me," she protested weakly. She closed her eyes, her body convulsed, and then her eyes glazed over and stared at nothingness. The warrior lay perfectly still.

Embersong was dead.

Moonpaw's nose was overwhelmed by the scent of death and an infected gash. She nosed Embersong's limp body on the slight chance that she would wake up. Mossfur rested her tail on Moonpaw's shoulder. "I couldn't save her, Moonpaw. She was in the hands of StarClan the moment I found her," the medicine cat mewed softly.

"What will we tell Frostpaw? How could we possibly tell her that Embersong is dead?" Moonpaw choked. Her heart ached with sadness. Moonpaw longed to bury her face into Embersong's cold fur, but she had to stay strong until they got back to camp.

Mossfur shook her head slowly. The aging medicine cat's eyes were clouded with grief and a smoldering fury for letting a warrior die on her paws. "I don't know if we can put is softly on her shoulders," Mossfur meowed. "Death is not something that can be announced without some cat's heart breaking in two. However, somebody has to tell Frostpaw that Embersong is dead. You know her well, Moonpaw. I am growing older. I don't say things as sympathetic as I used to. You are her kin. You should tell her Embersong has gone to hunt with StarClan."

Moonpaw's eyes widened with shock. "W-what?" Moonpaw stammered. "I-I can't! I can't be _that_ cruel to Frostpaw!" Mossfur's expression grew dark. "You must," she growled. "It is the way of the medicine cat."

Frostpaw was at the camp so Moonpaw figured she would have time to consider what she would say and how she would say it to her. But Frostpaw was her dearest friend. How could she break Embersong's death to her? Moonpaw gazed back at Mossfur, whose eyes were clouded with grief. Then it hit her, Embersong was Mossfur's sister.

Moonpaw imagined herself losing Frostpaw or Eclipsepaw. She pushed that thought away. Mossfur's muzzle was buried in Embersong's pelt. For one heartbeat, she thought she saw a starry figure with a fiery, golden pelt padding away in the sky and she thought, _safe travels, Embersong. Live well in StarClan._


	11. Chapter 11

_Eclipsepaw raced into camp,_ following Dovestar. The patrol had heard battle cries in the camp and were practically jumping in to protect it. The rogue cats were all gathered in a circle, hissing and spitting at something out of sight. As Dovestar's patrol bounded into the camp, some rogues turned their heads towards the patrol. Eclipsepaw caught a glimpse of muddy white fur through the legs of the rogues. _Frostpaw!_

The calico she-cat padded through the crowd with a vicious smirk on her face. Beside her, a powerful orange tabby snarled at the onlooking crowd.

"Greetings, Dovestar. I am Speckle, leader of this Clan. This is Tiger, my deputy."

"We are BoulderClan," clarified Tiger.

"What do want with us?" Dovestar snarled, fury flaming in her eyes.

"Not much really, we just want land. Yours and ThunderClan's, that is." Yowls of outrage rippled throughout the clan. Eclipsepaw unsheathed her claws. But Speckle kept going, "We have already talked to ThunderClan."

"And what did they say, might I ask?" Dovestar asked.

Speckle growled, "I think you already know what Stagstar said. But he will come around eventually, and you will too."

"What makes you say that?" Dovestar countered.

"Well, as you can see, we have one of your apprentices," started Speckle.

"And we'll keep him until you give us your land," finished Tiger, his amber eyes blazing.

Just then, a shadow fell over Speckle. Eclipsepaw looked up. A muddy white body was flying over the crowd. Frostpaw had leaped over the blockade of cats! Astonished cats gasped as she made her clumsy landing.

"I believe you have made a mistake, Speckle. You do not have a ShadowClan cat hostage; ShadowClan has _you_ hostage," snarled Dovestar, her eyes gleaming with pride.

Eclipsepaw peered around to see ShadowClan and ThunderClan warriors surrounding the camp. Their eyes gleaming in the moonlight. Starpaw was guarding Frostpaw, while Tawnypaw was helping Frostpaw walk to the medicine den to wait. It was now that Eclipsepaw noticed Frostpaw's blood splattered pelt. Her attention turned back to Speckle and Dovestar.

"Leave. Take you and your so-called _Clan_ with you. I never want to see you again." Dovestar commanded.

Tiger growled. Speckle led her clan out of the camp with Twistclaw and Toadleap following them. _This will not be the last you see BoulderClan._ Eclipsepaw whipped her head around to see a faint outline of a starry warrior. _They have never faced failure before and they don't intend to leave without getting what they want._

Eclipsepaw's pelt bristled and she drew back her lips in a snarl. "ShadowClan will get rid of this… this… _BoulderClan_ if it is the last thing we shall ever do!" she hissed in an ominously quiet tone.

"I don't know, Eclipsepaw. It might take more than just ShadowClan to get rid of BoulderClan," growled Starpaw. He obviously wasn't happy to admit it, but they all knew it was true.

She was taken aback. "They are not a clan! How could you possibly consider them one of us?" spat Eclipsepaw, outraged.

"Take it easy, Eclipsepaw. I'm just calling them what they claim to be. What else should I call them? They are too big in numbers to be just a band of rogues, and they are too organized, much like a clan. But, I agree, they will never be a true clan, even if they do call themselves that."

Eclipsepaw, fur still bristling with fury, clawed at the ground and said, "I don't care how long it takes. I am going to drive every last cat from _BoulderClan_ out the forest for three reasons and three reasons only. One, they have no code of honor; two, they threaten my clan, and three, they messed with my sister. No cat is going to hold _my_ sister hostage and leave without a single clawmark. Oh, they can have mercy, but not from me. I am going to rip every single BoulderClan cat to shard of a twig. And I will not rest until my clan is safe from BoulderClan."

Cats around her cheered furiously. Eclipsepaw realized now that other cats had heard her. Starpaw brushed her side and licked behind her ear. She turned to see him smiling. Dovestar was gazing proudly at Eclipsepaw.

"Well said, Eclipsepaw." She rose her voice, "We'll step up patrols. From now on there will be at least four warriors on each patrol and in addition to the dawn and dusk patrol, we will have a moon-high and sun-high patrols. One smaller patrol in between the four main patrol. Remember to keep your senses alert for anything unusual." Dovestar was now gazing down from highbranch. "Swanfern, send a patrol for the medicine cats and the wounded."

She paused and seemed to remember something. "Oh, and the other patrols, as well." Dovestar called after her deputy. Swanfern nodded and started calling out names.

"Sprucetail, take Lilyfur, Eclipsepaw, Maplepaw, and Sparrowpaw to retrieve the medicine cats and the wounded." Swanfern gazed around the crowd gathered below. Her eyes rested on Eclipsepaw.

"Rabbitclaw, take Toadleap, Whiteclaw, Adderclaw, and Starpaw to check up on ThunderClan-"

Eclipsepaw couldn't hear the last thing that Swanfern said. Her patrol was already padded out of the camp to the gathering place. The pine straw was soft against her pads, and yet she couldn't help but feeling tense from the BoulderClan encounter. Eclipsepaw remembered Frostpaw. She was going to make the BoulderClan cats wish they had never been kitted.

"Eclipsepaw? You don't scent any trouble, do you?"

Eclipsepaw was so caught up in revenge that she didn't notice Sparrowpaw pad beside her. Sparrowpaw was looking at her with genuine concern in his eyes. She flattened her fur and looked away, embarrassed that her fur had fluffed up.

"Sorry, I was just thinking about those flea-bitten mange-pelts that call themselves a Clan." Eclipsepaw said.

Maplepaw chimed in. "What kind of name is BoulderClan anyway?"

Eclipsepaw couldn't help but snarl at the mention BoulderClan. She dug her claws into the sand. They were almost at the fallen tree. The waves lapped almost soothingly against the shore. Her paws sank into the sand with every step. She felt the footsteps of many cats before her. Only this time it was different. This time there were cats that were willing to kill kits to get what they want. Eclipsepaw knew that they were no real threat. Then why did she feel afraid?

"BoulderClan is made up of a bunch of mouse-brains who think they actually have a chances against ShadowClan." Sparrowpaw continued.

"We can all agree that ShadowClan is the best, but I doubt we'll be able to take on BoulderClan alone," Maplepaw reasoned.

"Whatever, Maplepaw, " hissed Eclipsepaw, "I'll be happy as long as I get my paws on some BoulderClan blood,"

"I agree with Maplepaw," responded Sparrowpaw, "The smart thing to do would be to get another clan to help."

Eclipsepaw pondered Sparrowpaw's statement.

 _I really want to rip their guts out, but it probably suicide without any help. The best option would be to get help from Riverclan or Thunderclan. Definitely not those mouse-brained Windclan cats. They can't even catch a mouse._

"I'm sorry. I just really don't want to look weak for asking help of another clan." sighed Eclipsepaw.

"I don't think any cat is proud of it. But it _is_ the wisest thing to do." agreed Sparrowpaw.

Lilyfur chuckled ahead of them. Sprucetail looked back at the three apprentices trying to hide his amusement. Eclipsepaw's gaze flickered from Lilyfur to Sprucetail. Her eyes narrowed.

"What's so funny?" Asked Sparrowpaw.

"You three talk like Clan leaders at a gathering!" Lilyfur exclaimed and burst into laughter. She looked over at Maplepaw, who couldn't help but agree.

They were nearing the tree bridge. A mourning wail came from the island. The two warriors exchanged a worried glance and speed across as carefully as they could. The sky seemed to darken as rain began to pour. Eclipsepaw laid her gazed on the limp body. She padded closer. Mossfur and Moonpaw had their heads bowed to the golden-red furred cat. _That is Embersong!_ she realized with a pang.

Her feet carried her beside Moonpaw. Eclispepaw sighed. Frostpaw had already been through so much tonight. This would completely break her heart. She stared at Embersong's blood soaked pelt. Embersong had been the closest to the entrance when they were attacked. Her mouth was still open, seeming to be screaming even after death. Why had StarClan brought this upon them?

"When BoulderClan came," Moonpaw began, her green eyes engulfed in sadness. "Embersong was with Sprucetail. They had scented something strange. It wasn't until one of the intruders pounced did they realize what that scent was."

Mossfur looked up. "She fought so bravely. I am proud to call her my sister."

"Embersong was your sister?" gasped Eclipsepaw.

Mossfur nodded. "She shouldn't have died. There were many things she wanted to do before she joined the ranks of StarClan; and there were many cats who loved her..." Her meow was flat and choked up, and her eyes were unreadable and glossy with the tears she was trying to hold back.

"I think we should bring Embersong back to camp to give her a proper vigil," mewed Lilyfur.

"Yes," whispered Mossfur, "She deserves that."


End file.
